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SNaP Chapter 3: Roots of Nonaggression

The SNaPcube and the SNaPmap — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:13:35 GMT

Plot Progress: The SNaPcube and the SNaPmap
World's Smallest Meta-Political Quiz

From the general descriptions above for the three axes or dimensions one may see the seeds of quantifying just how far along the Nonaggression Vector one is located at a particular time. So I came up with a series of categories and questions for that purpose, and constructed a three-dimensional SNaPcube. To create the SNaPcube, and for ease of plotting, I’ve tipped the SNaPstrip Diagram forward, so we’re looking as from the top of Figure 3.1. The unadorned SNaPcube is shown below in Figure 3.4. With the sample plot of X=50, Y=50, and Z=40 shown.... [more]

Avatar: Coffee Coaster Movie Review

Brian Wright — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:07:46 GMT

Flags of our fathers... and our brothers

When was the last time you went to a war movie and actually rooted against the American forces? Okay, yes, Dances with Wolves (1990). Good answer. In Avatar, the armies aren't strictly speaking American... but the Allied Earth Marines seem about as American-military dominated as the so-called Coalition Forces were in Operation Iraqi Freedom. And when the Shinola hits the rotating blades of the gunships, the crowd in our theater erupts in applause.

No doubt that James Cameron is sending a message loud and clear to all of humankind: "Have courage. Rise up and defend your humanity and its sacred spirit against the 'Unspeakable' would-be tyrants in our midst... [more]

Alternative Econ 101

Brian Wright, The Coffee Coaster — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:03:39 GMT

How to make money by leaving the sinking "ship of state" for more-better boats

As Thomas Jefferson states, it is natural for government to grow and liberty to yield over time. That is certainly what has occurred: All the actions of freemen, all the rights of production and trade, that the Constitution (and the many state constitutions) explicitly document, have been infringed by governments to the point of disappearance. That does not mean the rights no longer exist!

All the activities identified below you and I have the absolute right to perform by virtue of our natural rights of life, liberty, and property. It may be prudent to note that some person(s) may try to coerce you from these actions, but legally/morally that's irrelevant... [more]

The Jesus Immunity

Brian Wright — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:40:38 GMT

Breaking the "limbic system barrier"...

This is the term I came up with as the best expression for the combination of reason and spiritual growth standing the best chance to cure stunted limbic system processing... and penetrate the Barrier Cloud, one consciousness at a time. What I had not appreciated until recently is that the act of asserting one's own understanding and commitment to the truth is a spiritual move: one is stepping up from the emotional-perceptual functioning of an automaton into a new world of concepts that breathe life for you as a unique being deserving the joy of self-realization... [more]

Live Free and Smoke... or Not

Brian Wright — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 04:35:00 GMT

2006 Defeat of Smoke Ban #1 in the Free State (and initial popular revolt against Real ID)

In the spring of 2006, federal-government-funded "health" issue organizations such as the American Lung Association and other organized invaders of the NFP (Neighborhood of Free People) made New Hampshire a major target. The people's republics surrounding New Hampshire—Maine, New York, Vermont, Mass., etc.—had all succumbed to government takeover of private-property airspace in the form of a smoking ban on bars and restaurants. New Hampshire was the lone holdout, and had to be brought in line. The following is the story of a successful libertarian resistance... [more]

All We Got is Time: Coffee Coaster Guest Short Story

John Ryan — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:51:12 GMT

Shortly after World War II, Francis O’Leary made the acquaintance of one Emily McKinnon at a ballroom dance thrown in honor of veteran soldiers and WACs. She was first generation Scottish. He was first generation Irish. [more]

Google: Big Brother or Big Mutha?

Brian Wright — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:47:35 GMT

Note: This column documents my recent experience, as a Web proprietor, with the Google dynasty and its—let's just say—"bizarre and/or arbitrarily applied" policy regarding the small fries it will do business with. Two weeks ago, Google precipitously and inscrutably canceled my Google CPC[1] advertising account; there's no telling whether Google will further downgrade its valuation of my site, e.g. lowering the Coffee Coaster's page rank—regardless of what I do or don't do. So in the immortal words of Vince Majestyk, "There's no sense getting on their good side." Hence this column of warning to others expecting smart virtue from Big G. They crossed the line; "no more soup (or coffee) for them!" [more]

Management: Coffee Coaster Movie Review

Brian Wright — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:44:54 GMT

So along comes a simple movie with eccentric characters in a long line of such movies, from, say, Harold and Maude (1971) to Night Shift (1982) Benny and Joon (1993) to Stuck on You (2004) to Sunshine Cleaning Company (2008) to dozens of others over the years. And we tend to like movies in which one or more of the principals is a 'few bubbles off of plumb.' [more]

Taking Chance: Coffee Coaster Movie Review

Brian Wright — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:42:06 GMT

You might want to check your supply of Kleenex before you slip Taking Chance into the DVD player. As you realize from the trailer, this is a story about a Marine escort (a real-life Lt. Colonel Mike Strobl played by Kevin Bacon) for a casket containing a young "killed-in-Iraq" soldier[1] named Chance Phelps. Chance is, or was, a real-life person, too. [more]

Hombre: Coffee Coaster Movie Review

Brian Wright — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:40:57 GMT

John Russell: Lady, up there in those mountains, there’s a whole people who’ve lost everything. They don’t have a place left to spread their blankets. They’ve been insulted, diseased, made drunk and foolish. And you call the men who did that Christians and you trust ‘em; I know ‘em as white men and I don’t... [more]

America: The Book, Book Review by Brian Wright

Jon Stewart — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:38:04 GMT

One of those tongue in cheek exercises that totally revives one's faith in the value of satire, mostly gentle sometimes brutal, applied to the government and its flotilla of fellow travelers. Not only does Stewart skewer the corporate-state dinosaur, he dishes out a healthy amount of humor... [more]

Technopoly: Book Review by Brian Wright

Neil Postman — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:35:49 GMT

Neil Postman is the prophet of the Second Enlightenment, the one that "builds a bridge" to
the First Enlightenment of the 18th century. The former chair of the department of communications arts and sciences at New York University has a thing about technology and language. [more]

Carved in Granite II: Book Review

Brian Wright — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:20:38 GMT

Alert Coffee Coaster book review readers will note that the Proprietor reviewed the Carved in Granite I anthology of short stories, put out by the folks at SciArt Media whom I know through James Maynard, originally. Lately, I've been promoting the work of one of those short story authors in Carved in Granite I, Ronald Kaiser, that I found particularly rewarding. [more]